Accounting Today articles from August 2006

Accounting Today archives from August 2006

Contingent fee limits rile tax groups.(rules for tax returns)
August 7, 2006... The move by the Internal Revenue Service to further limit contingent fees for Circular 230 tax practitioners has drawn opposition from virtually every group of tax professionals. Representatives from the American Institute of CPAs, the...

ASB aims at quality: Proposed standards would strengthen firm quality control.(Auditing Standards Board )
August 7, 2006... NEW YORK -- In a significant move toward unifying a number of related standards and harmonizing them with a new international standard, the Auditing Standards Board has voted out a proposed statement on quality control. It was one of three...

IRS flooded out of HQ til 2007.(Internal Revenue Service)
August 7, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Nearly a month into a round-the-clock cleanup effort after torrential rains flooded its Washington headquarters, the Internal Revenue Service said that the office -which houses some 2,700 workers - won't reopen until early next...

Action Idea: More life hacks.
August 7, 2006... Some very productive folks out there want to help the rest of us by providing "life hacks" - their tips and tricks for being more efficient. Not all of them will work for everyone, but with so many out there, some are bound to work for you. A...

News Brief: Feds win tax shelter appeal.(war over corporate tax shelters)
August 7, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The government got a big victory in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, winning a reversal of a 2004 decision. The court's decision against Coltec Industries Inc. is a notable decision in the war over corporate tax shelters. In...

News Brief: Decosimo, FIS unveil merger.(Joseph Decosimo and Co has acquired with FIS Associates)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... CHATTANOOGA, TENN. -- CPA and business advisory firm Joseph Decosimo and Co. has merged in the practice of FIS Associates, of Knoxville, a 36-year-old firm specializing in physician services including practice evaluation, billing and coding...

News Brief: SEC to PCAOB: Hold options guidance.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission requested that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board delay issuing guidance related to backdating stock options. According to reports, the PCAOB had planned to issue an alert to...

Pols consider feasibility of patenting your tax advice.( estate and gift tax reduction programs )
August 7, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Whether accounting firms and tax practitioners should be allowed to seek patent protection for the tax advice that they offer is a question being raised on Capitol Hill in response to a recent upsurge in patent applications by the...

Spreading knowledge: U.K. acc'ts to train China's CPAs.(Certified public accountants)
August 7, 2006... BRUSSELS -- Facing a radical shortfall of CPAs in China, where the Chinese Institute of CPAs has just 140,000 members and needs roughly 300,000 to serve the needs of global capital markets, Britain's largest domestic institute of chartered...

COSO rolls out guidance for small business.(Committee of Sponsoring Organizations)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... NEW YORK -- New guidance stressing efficient application of effective internal controls over financial reporting was released in mid-July by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. The guidance, titled...

Web Cites: Get Tidy.(Website overview)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... * Chaos to Order - www.chaostoorder.com/ Anyone with a cluttered office and too-complicated filing system will find some relief at this site, which offers helpful tips for streamlining everything from your kitchen drawers to your home...

Footnotes.(New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants celebrated the 20th anniversary )
August 7, 2006... NYSSCPA and PACE UNIVERSITY CELEBRATE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF COAP: The New York State Society of CPAs and Pace University recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Career Opportunities in Accounting Program. In June, 28 high school...

Advisors hoping for 'soft' spots amidst global market.(analysis of mutual funds)
August 7, 2006... Following the old saw that "What goes up must come down" - and vice versa - advisors who employ a strategy of buying cheap like it when market sectors decline. By the same token, some economic-minded advisors are continually on the lookout...

Lay's death may cheat creditors.(death of Kenneth L. Lay)
August 7, 2006... ASPEN, COLO. -- Legal experts say that the untimely death of former Enron founder and chairman Kenneth L. Lay, prior to his being sentenced to prison for his role in the massive collapse of Enron, could possibly save his family's assets from...

PCAOB not 'Fed' up yet.(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board)
August 7, 2006... Several issues ago, I wrote of how the Enron and WorldCom debacles more or less defined my tenure as editor-in-chief at Accounting Today. Much like a stubborn barnacle appended to the bottom of a garbage scow, the serial dramas continued...

Commentary: Mobility: Eliminate the roadblocks to the real solution.(practice of Certified public accountants)
August 7, 2006... The American Institute of CPAs should be commended for its recent decision to create a Special Committee on Mobility, whose focus will be eliminating impediments to CPAs practicing across state lines. The formation of this high-level...

Practice Management: Firing D-level clients: Everybody wins.
August 7, 2006... Management consultant and author Peter Drucker once observed, "We will never achieve our best potential if we are not willing to abandon old things... clients, processes, policies, products and services, employees. We can't do great new things...

Taxing Issues.
August 7, 2006... IRS SAVES PAULSON FROM TAX HIT: The Internal Revenue Service will issue guidance clarifying the 20 percent penalty for executives who divest a deferred-compensation arrangement. The new regulations will translate into significant savings for...

Tax prep for immigrants: Get ready for the surge!(tax preparations)
August 7, 2006... An estimated 15 million immigrants in the United States are not eligible to obtain a Social Security number. However, many of these same individuals pay taxes on income and are obligated to file tax returns. If this sounds confusing to you,...

TIPRA raises price tag for Americans working abroad.(Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act)
August 7, 2006... One of the provisions inserted by the Conference Committee into the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005, signed by President Bush on May 17, 2006, was a tax increase on citizens working abroad. The provision was not in either...

Change Of Auditors.
August 7, 2006... SILICON GRAPHICS RETAINS KPMG: Silicon Graphics Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based manufacturer of scalable servers, visualization systems and desktop workstations, dismissed auditor Ernst & Young and named Big Four rival KPMG as its...

Making acc'ting standards work all around the world.(accounting standards)
August 7, 2006... Keeping up with the rules and regulations that govern our professional existence is a challenging endeavor, but, relatively speaking, it could be worse. Consider the environment in other countries. In France, for example, students...

Emptying our column idea drawers: Options.(accounting for stock options)
August 7, 2006... It's summer vacation time, and we're following our tradition of digging into the files and reprinting columns from the past. This one from June 2003 deals mostly with the accounting for stock options. In those days, of course, there was a...

PFP Briefs.(rules for hedge funds)(appointment at financial services)
August 7, 2006... COURT TELLS SEC TO LEAVE HEDGE FUNDS ALONE: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has dealt a blow to the Securities and Exchange Commission's plans to more closely regulate hedge funds. The court ruled unanimously in...

Fidelity Gift Fund rolls out charitable advisor program.(investmets of mutual funds)
August 7, 2006... BOSTON -- In an effort to increase charitable giving across the U.S., the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, an independent public charity within the donor-advised fund program of financial services conglomerate Fidelity, has rolled out the...

Nondeductible contributions to a client's traditional IRA.(Individual retirement accounts)
August 7, 2006... An individual who is an active participant in a qualified retirement plan cannot make deductible contributions to a traditional IRA unless her modified adjusted gross income is below certain specified levels. The level depends on the type...

Tech Briefs.
August 7, 2006... UBCC ADDS FEATURES TO REAL-TIME ACCOUNTING & PAYROLL: Accounting and payroll software provider Universal Business Computing Co. has rolled out new features for its Real-Time Accounting & Payroll applications. The software now includes...

Online sellers get help with new accounting software.(Internal Revenue Service)
August 7, 2006... Individuals who participate in online sales at auction sites such as eBay face a plethora of bookkeeping and tax issues regarding their entrepreneurial ventures. Some people choose to ignore the issues and simply not report their financial...

Serenic, M'soft in payroll pact.(Microsoft Corp., Serenic Software Inc.)
August 7, 2006... EDMONTON, ALBERTA -- Financial and nonprofit software publisher Serenic Corp. has entered into an agreement with Microsoft Corp. in which Serenic will be the Industry Solutions Vendor for payroll software and related services for users of...

Software Review: Payroll software and services: Works in progress.(software striving to serve both accountants and their customers)
August 7, 2006... A year ago, payroll processing remained a class of software striving to serve both accountants and their customers. Still making the transition from service bureaus to the desktop and on to the Internet, the focus was less on how to help...

The time sheet is only one measure of performance.(performance of acountants)
August 7, 2006... While the time sheet is an integral part of most accountants' lives, it is not the measurement of performance that many believe it to be. A time sheet is nothing more than an accountability tool. In my opinion, the profession has erred,...

Software & Hardware.(accounting firms)
August 7, 2006... Deduction management Designed with companies with large distribution channels or that sell direct to large retailers in mind, Vengroff, Williams & Associates' new DMS deduction management system connects vendors, distributors and retailers...

Books.
August 7, 2006... Fair value As anyone who has ever dealt with children can attest, what's considered "fair" is infinitely malleable. You would think that it would be easier to determine the "fair" value of a business than, say, a "fair" distribution of...

Obstacles and opportunities.(table)(Statistical table)
August 7, 2006... Opportunity Obstacles Strategy Increased demand in Lack of people. Implement a client filtering traditional services Commoditization. system to upgrade your client ...

People.(new appointments)
August 7, 2006... ARIZONA Lohman Co. PLLC, Phoenix, announced five new hires: Ann Starr has joined the firm as a senior; Allison Ihle, Alicia Martone and Connie Mudd as staff accountants; and Amanda Ceja as an administrative assistant. Starr will focus on...

Coming Events.(Calendar)
August 7, 2006... AUGUST 7: IRS Update, National Conference of CPA Practitioners, New Jersey Chapter. Victor's Maywood Inn, Maywood, N.J. Contact: Marc Fox (201) 967-5659. 8: Tax Update, National Conference of CPA Practitioners. Renaissance Boca Raton...

Davis elected FICPA president.(appointment at Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... TALLAHASSEE, FLA -- Beryl H. "Berri" Davis, director of the Office of Audit Services and Management Support for the city of Orlando, has been elected president of the Florida Institute of CPAs. Effective July 1, she is the institute's 79th...

Kellas gets another term at IAASB.(International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board)(Appointment of John Kellas )(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... NEW YORK -- The board of the International Federation of Accountants has approved the re-appointment of John Kellas as chairman of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. Kellas has served on the independent...

Firms.(accousitions and celebrations of accounting services)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... CALIFORNIA Burr, Pilger & Mayer LLP, San Francisco, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its founding by Curtis Burr, Henry Pilger and Stephen Mayer in 1986. It is also opening new offices in San Jose. NEW JERSEY Rothstein Kass...

Advertiser Index.(table)(Statistical table)
August 7, 2006... Advertiser Page 1st Global 19 AccountantsWorld 39 ADP Small Business Services 17 Capital One ...

Note From The Editor.(best practices in a small firm )(Editorial)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... A perfect tax office? Perhaps we should say perfect tax offices, because best practices in a small firm aren't necessarily the same as best practices in a large one. And best practices for one kind of return may not hold for another. There...

The Perfect Tax Office: There's more than one way to skin a tax return...(rules for tax practices)
August 7, 2006... Is there any one rule that applies to tax practices of all sizes? If there is one, it may be this: Firms must be aware of what their practices are-how they do things, who does them, and in what order. "I think you have to have a single...

Technology: Past, Present, Future.(usage of accounting software)
August 7, 2006... The subject of "best practices" is generally directed to quality representation of clients and ethical conduct in the preparation of tax returns- as embodied in Section 10.33 of the AICPA guidance on best practices for tax advisors. But...

Small Changes Add Up.(Bert Doerhoff services)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... Although Bert Doerhoff's firm keeps up with technology-it has a scanner and invested in dual monitors-simple changes can make a big difference. That's because his practice is like most offices. It's not completely paperless. "The biggest...

Document Management The Easy Way?(document management system )(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... A document management system doesn't have to be a high priced system with all the frills. For smaller firms, it can be as simple as a scanner and a typical desktop computer, says Bruce Andersen, a sole practitioner based in Woodland Hills,...

Checkpoint(r): Innovative Technology to Enhance Your Firm's Productivity.(accounting, auditing, and tax practitioners)(Company overview)
August 7, 2006... As recently as a decade ago, technology for tax practices was all about automating manual processes. Productivity was measured in returns per day or computations per second. The industry even hosted coast-to-coast "shootouts" to test one tax...

Seeing Double with Document Management.
August 7, 2006... The easiest way to study the impact of document management on accounting and tax firms is to count the monitors that have proliferated on their desks. From large firms to small ones, the use of dual monitors on preparers' and reviewers'...

Price Is Part of the Formula.(management of ConvergenceCoaching)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... A smart approach to pricing is one element that leads to better results in a tax practice, says Jennifer Wilson, a partner at ConvergenceCoaching, a Bellevue, Neb.-based consulting firm that advises CPA and technology reselling and consulting...

Wilson: Getting More Out of Data Gathering.(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... All firms need to gather data in order to prepare tax returns. But that process can be fine-tuned to make sure that the process itself improves overall results, says Jennifer Wilson, a partner at ConvergenceCoaching, a Bellevue, Neb.-based...

Accountants' day in court: Litigation support isn't for novices, or the faint-hearted.(educational aspects of certified public accountants)
August 21, 2006... There's no question that since 1992, when CPA Ralph Summerford opened Summerford Accountancy PC, in Birmingham, Ala., he's seen an evolution in the litigation support niche that most forensic accountants build their reputations on. "When I...

Hewitt named to SEC: Ex-E&Y partner joins up as new chief accountant.(Securities and Exchange Commission)
August 21, 2006... Washington -- After filling the top slot at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board by naming Mark W. Olson as chairman in June, Securities and Exchange Commission chair Christopher Cox filled another gaping vacancy in July - the position...

Tax prep ASPs make headway in market.(application service providers)
August 21, 2006... Application service provider technology, once described as "the next big thing to still be coming," has turned the corner on acceptance, as its advantages are winning over converts from large firms to smaller tax prep shops. Once offered...

Bookend your meetings.
August 21, 2006... Everyone hates meetings, and yet we all seem to be spending more and more of our time in them. Since they can't be avoided, the best you can hope for is to make the most of them - and one way to do that is by bookending them. When you...

News Brief: SEC okays new rules on top exec pay.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Washington -- Under rules unanimously adopted, the Securities and Exchange Commission will require public companies to provide more information about the pay given to top executives. Companies will now have to report a single number for...

News Brief: IRS loses 'Son of Boss' case.(Internal Revenue Service)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Tyler, Texas -- A federal judge has ruled that the Internal Revenue Service went too far in retroactively banning the "Son of Boss" tax shelter. For the past six years, the IRS has been battling the tax shelters, which it says generated...

News Brief: Judge delays KPMG trial for 4 mos.(management of KPMG partners)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... New York -- Blaming delays in information sharing, as well as a battle over who will pick up the tab for legal fees, a judge has delayed the trial over 16 former KPMG partners' sales of questionably legal tax shelters until Jan. 15. Judge Lewis...

Correction.(Correction notice)
August 21, 2006... "Low-cost accounting: Small cost, big features" (July 10-23, 2006, page 24) incorrectly stated that QuickBooks does not offer payroll; in fact, Intuit offers three different add-on QuickBooks payroll packages - QB Standard Payroll, QB Enhanced...

Everson: Patents may be a nightmare for tax pros.(reports of Estate taxes)
August 21, 2006... Washington -- Accountants and other tax practitioners are facing a minefield of new liability dangers as a result of the actions of tax shelter promoters who patent their tax reduction strategies, legal experts warned Congress. Testifying...

COSO issues new guidance on SOX for small companies: 'Does it resolve all of the widespread complaints? Not completely, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.'.(Committee of Sponsoring Organizations)(Sarbanes-Oxley Act)
August 21, 2006... In response to widespread criticism of the cost and burden of implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, on internal controls, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission has issued comprehensive...

Web Cites: The latest technology.(service introduction of websites)
August 21, 2006... * CNet Shopper - http://shopper.cnet.com/ The reliable CNet Web site offers a powerful search-and-compare feature that allows browsers to sift through thousands of products, from home entertainment systems to specific memory and storage...

Footnotes.(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... FRAZIER & DEETER MARKS SILVER ANNIVERSARY WITH COMMUNITY PROGRAM: To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Atlanta-based CPA and business advisory firm Frazier & Deeter LLC will engage in a year-long effort of giving back to the community. To...

FASB considers revamping ancient leasing standards.(Financial Accounting Standards Board)
August 21, 2006... Norwalk, Conn. -- Anything 30 years old in accounting is ripe for rejuvenation, and anything that old in leasing is ready for rebirth. With good reason, then, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has added to its agenda a project to...

Baucus threatens nominee over tax gap.(Max Baucus)
August 21, 2006... Washington -- Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee, has threatened to hold up President Bush's nominee for the Treasury's top tax position, unless the department agrees to provide a comprehensive...

Converging on progress.
August 21, 2006... Will Rogers once quipped that if we truly wanted to slow down the aging process, all we had to do was allow it to be worked through Congress. Few would argue that one of the most effective ways to brake any effort or movement is to allow...

Commentary: Sarbanes-Oxley: The impact on smaller firms.(Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)
August 21, 2006... Lost in the hotly debated issues surrounding the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 are the unforeseen consequences impacting the accounting profession itself. Foremost among these is the creation of an inhibited marketplace that primarily...

Practice Management: Next steps versus missteps: Peel the onion back one layer at a time.
August 21, 2006... Many CPAs picture the selling cycle as something like this: Have a meeting where you identify a need, write a proposal, sit down with the prospect and walk out with the business. I call it the two-call close, and it's often more of a...

Taxing Issues.(Individual retirement accounts)
August 21, 2006... IRS ISSUES SPRING '06 SOI BULLETIN: The Internal Revenue Service announced the release of its Spring 2006 issue of the Statistics of Income Bulletin. For the first time, the bulletin takes a detailed look at individual non-cash charitable...

Taxpayer Advocate report draws bead on OICs, RALs.(offer-in-compromise, refund anticipation loan)
August 21, 2006... The National Taxpayer Advocate, the watchdog of the Internal Revenue Service, has singled out offers in compromise and refund anticipation loans for special focus in her menu of tax issues to address during the coming year. The "areas of...

Patenting tax strategies: A troubling storm develops.
August 21, 2006... Warning: Tax strategies are now being carved out as private property, patented through the U.S. Patent Office. The practice started with a trickle in 1998, and is now becoming a steady stream threatening to overflow its banks. How does this...

Change of Auditors.
August 21, 2006... OPENTV RETAINS GRANT THORNTON: OpenTV Corp., a San Francisco-based developer of software used by cable and satellite TV operators to offer their subscribers interactive content and services, named Grant Thornton as its new independent...

FASB, IASB request views on new reporting concepts.(International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board)(financial reports)
August 21, 2006... Norwalk, Conn. -- Taking a big step toward erecting a stronger foundation beneath the world's accounting standards, the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board recently issued a joint document...

'Pensionaphobia' strikes again!(Financial Accounting Standards Board)
August 21, 2006... Several times, we have written about the Financial Accounting Standards Board's proposed renovation of its standards for pensions and other post-retirement benefits, mostly in support of its initial modest proposal to move the off-balance-sheet...

PFP Briefs.(National Association of Personal Financial Advisors)
August 21, 2006... NAPFA LAUNCHES PSA CAMPAIGN: The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, a 1,300-member association of fee-only financial advisors, has launched a consumer-oriented public service campaign aimed at educating Americans about the...

Study: Boomers concerned, but just can't seem to save: 69 percent expressed concern about outliving their financial resources.
August 21, 2006... Some 50 percent of Baby Boomers ages 50 to 59, with anywhere from six to 15 years before retirement, indicated in a recent survey that they don't know how much money they'll need when they finally stop working. Furthering their financial...

Retirement ages for Social Security.
August 21, 2006... Most people who work for a living, either as employees or as self-employed persons, are covered by Social Security's old age, survivors and disability insurance program. As a retirement program, Social Security pays a monthly cash benefit...

Tech Briefs.(SAP AG acquired Praxis Software Solutions )
August 21, 2006... SAP ACQUIRES PRAXIS, WILL FOLD CRM INTO BUSINESS ONE: SAP AG has acquired Praxis Software Solutions and will integrate the company's Web-based CRM and e-commerce capabilities into SAP Business One, which targets small and midsized companies....

You can build it, but that doesn't mean they'll come.(accounting marketing )
August 21, 2006... "Firms need to find ways to bring their clients into the loop," maintained James Bourke, shareholder-in-charge of firm technology and information technology consulting services for Red Bank, N.J.-based WithumSmith+Brown, which earlier this year...

Build a firm foundation for retention and attraction.(accounting services)
August 21, 2006... Retention and attraction of people is definitely the No. 1 challenge in all professions. The accounting profession will face a crisis if it does not make significant changes in the way it practices firm management. This is demonstrated...

Software & Hardware.(HP Scanjet 8390 and 7800 scanners)(Network Appliance Inc.'s StoreVault S500)(Professional Edition, Docsvault from Easy Data Access)
August 21, 2006... Too many sweaters... Both apartment-dwellers and small businesses the world over have at least one dilemma in common: finding a place to store all those things they're not using right now, but know they're going to need later on, like...

Books.
August 21, 2006... Forget market share Not entirely - just for a minute - and remember that, in the end, the point of a business is to make money. That, more or less, is the message of Manage for Profit, Not for Market Share: For too long, companies have...

People.(Millenium Business Solutions Group Inc)(Rehmann Financial Group)
August 21, 2006... CALIFORNIA Axel Buendia has joined Millenium Business Solutions Group Inc., Westlake Village, as a nonprofit solutions consultant and certified trainer.... Alan L. Olsen, managing partner of Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen & Co., Fremont,...

Coming Events.(Calendar)
August 21, 2006... AUGUST 21-22: National Governmental Accounting & Auditing Update Conference, American Institute of CPAs. JW Marriott Hotel Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. Contact: (888) 777-7077 or www.cpa2biz.com/conferences. 21-22: State &...

Firms.(Paul E. Daoust & Co. PC acquired John M. Larson CPA)(Rainmaker Academy)(Macias Gini & Co. LLP)
August 21, 2006... CALIFORNIA As part of a series of structural changes, Macias Gini & Co. LLP, Sacramento, has changed its name to Macias Gini & O'Connell LLP. Kevin O'Connell will now serve as managing partner, while founder and former MP Kenneth...